Grand Remnants: Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest

Canyons, craters, and fossils can provide viewers of the present a peak into the distant past.  Hundreds of millions of years can be preserved through the transformative geologic processes that have given rise to some of the most astounding natural wonders of the world.

My mom and I have an ever-apparent affinity for desertous canyons.  The opportunity to witness firsthand the products of the incredible works of wind, water, and rock in their most beautiful natural environments compelled us to once again head east.  Gravitating toward the rich red dirt of the American Southwest, the two of us headed out on a three-state roadtrip through Arizona, Utah, and Nevada in July of 2016.

The first region we explored was Northern Arizona.

Colossal Cacti: Saguaro and Organ Pipe

The desert is an ecosystem that thrives on paradoxes.  Characterized by dry, arid conditions offset by ground-shattering flash flood storms, extreme temperature fluctuations from day to night, and relatively few resources to sustain life, a desert is a generally hostile environment for the suprisingly rich, biodiverse specific makeup of its inhabitants. 

I have been fascinated by the desert for as long as I can remember.  My experiences in the desert began with visits to my grandmother, who lived in Palm Desert for most of my life.  I have very fond memories of drives through the wind energy windmills out to see her.  In the fifth grade, I went to Joshua Tree National Park on a camping trip with my elementary school class.  We scrambled over boulders and stargazed at the starriest night skies I had ever seen.  I was awed by the fact that this incredible environment was less than a few hours away from my foothill home.  As I learned more and more about the desertous regions that surrounded me, I became compelled to explore.

My mom and I road tripped through the Sonoran Desert of Southern Arizona in the summer of 2015. 

This post is a continuation of the trip documented in "Rock Wonderlands: Caves and Chiricahua."

Rock Wonderlands: Caves and Chiricahua

Rocks, my namesake and my inspiration, are a part of who I am.  Nothing quite epitomizes stability and strength like a rock.  Forming over millions to billions of years, change in the geological realm occurs at a tremendously slow rate relative to the human experience of life.  As a consequence, from our perspective, rocks can seem like generally unchanging entities.  This phenomenon provides the basis for my love of rocks - they are constant fixtures in our transient world, permanence amidst impermanence.  I have always wanted to be like a rock, both for others and for myself.  I want to embody the strength and balance of that which is steady.

In the summer of 2015, my mother and I embarked on a ten-day road trip through Southern Arizona.  Headed for the clouds, we were thrilled to explore this desert-rich ecoregion.

The inspiration for this trip really came from my mom and I seeing a photo of Chiricahua National Monument.  We were completely awe-stricken just from the photograph, and we knew that we had to go east and see it for ourselves.  

We set out for Southeastern Arizona at the end of June.